This outcome document was released on December 10, 2011 at the 17th United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Durban, South Africa.The meeting resulted in the decision to begin forging a new treaty next year, to be completed by 2015 and coming into effect by 2020. A new climate fund, the "Green Climate Fund" was established, and the EU and a number of other countries agreed to emissions cuts under the Kyoto Protocol.

Delegates at climate talks underway in South Africa would be better off addressing matters such as a global climate fund rather than trying to preserve the contentious Kyoto Protocol, says CFR's Michael Levi.

There seems little possibility that next month's climate summit in Durban will produce an emissions-reduction agreement--meaning the world will soon lack any binding CO2 targets and Europe may find itself alone in the fight against global warming.